Poker-Playing SCOTUS Lawyer Loses Bids to Ease Pretrial Monitoring Conditions

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Mar 26, 2025 4 min read Last updated Mar 27, 2025

A federal judge on Tuesday sustained a bail condition requiring Tom Goldstein's electronic devices to be monitored after the embattled high roller attorney appealed the "drastic" terms of release.

In February, Chief US Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan modified Goldstein's release conditions to require electronic device monitoring, saying he was "highly suspicious that Mr. Goldstein has used cryptocurrency while on conditions of release."

Attorneys for Goldstein challenged that ruling and called the device monitoring a "drastic condition of release" that "creates a significant risk of the disclosure of privileged information."

US District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sustained the court's monitoring condition on Tuesday while also denying Goldstein's motion to appeal the monitoring condition, according to court documents uploaded on Wednesday.

Judge Griggsby wrote in her ruling, which was uploaded on Thursday, that the monitoring requirement "is the least restrictive condition" to assure Goldstein's court appearance and to "protect the public from the economic danger posed by the Defendant’s cryptocurrency-related activities."

The judge further wrote that Goldstein poses "a significant risk of flight" given the charges against him involving "significant international travel and contacts with gamblers and other wealthy individuals located in foreign countries."

"The Government also persuasively argues that the Defendant poses an economic danger to the community, due to his past online gambling activities and cryptocurrency transactions," wrote Griggsby, who noted that the government's accusations that Goldstein engaged in witness tampering and accessed undisclosed crypto wallets to not factor into her decision.

Additionally, Judge Griggsby denied an emergency motion by Goldstein to compel production of grand jury testimony related to a witness whom prosecutors allege Goldstein had tried to bribe.

Feds Say Goldstein Made "Outright Falsehoods"

This week's ruling follows a contentious back-and-forth between prosecutors and Goldstein, who in January was charged with tax evasion related to millions in poker winnings.

Responding to accusations that he had offered cryptocurrency and other things of value "to a potential witness in the case who has intimate knowledge of his and his law firm's finances and income," Goldstein asked prosecutors to turn over grand jury testimony and alleged they had "intentionally misled the court."

Prosecutors, who have not charged Goldstein with witness tampering, pushed back on Monday, accusing Goldstein of "trying to illicitly circumvent Rule 6(e) to discover additional details of presumptively secret grand jury testimony of a witness who rebuffed his repeated offers of cryptocurrency and money under circumstances that demonstrate the lengths to which Defendant will go to conceal his crimes and wrongdoing from the Government."

Also on Tuesday, Judge Griggsby set dates for pre-trial proceedings and the trial. Jury selection is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2026, and a jury trial is set to begin on Jan. 13, 2026.

The case is being heard in the US District Court for the District of Maryland. Goldstein has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Tom Goldstein Trial Schedule

_{*Lead image courtesy Legaleagle22/WikiCommons}

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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